GPs prioritise D&I

Latest figures have revealed that 56% of survey respondents are aiming to increase gender representation this year compared to 47% in 2020, according to a new report.

EY’s 2021 Global Private Equity Survey which surveyed 127 PE firms and 72 LPs across Europe, North America and Asia, also found that 52% of respondents plan to increase ethnic minority representation in 2021 compared to only 31% last year. At the same time, 43% of respondents noted creating a more inclusive culture as key for 2021, which increased from 37% last year.

The report found that in 2021 so far, nearly half (46%) of respondents said more than 50% of their back office staff are women, compared to 41% last year. 

Furthermore, 60% of those surveyed cited that currently less than 10% of their back office staff are underrepresented minorities.

D&I initiatives

While more firms are recognising a need to improve minority representation, less than half (32%) told EY they currently have documented D&I initiatives in place. At the same time, 42% have informal D&I initiatives at their firms. 

Furthermore, the report found that 26% of firms don’t have any D&I initiatives in place.

When discussing what components their current D&I initiatives include, more than half (62%) cited improving awareness during the promotion process, while 59% said they provide training on bias and inclusion.

34% of CFOs cited expanding recruiting at colleges and universities, 29% stated creating diverse hiring panels/interviewers and 16% identified reviewing D&I policies of third parties/vendors as part of their current initiatives.

Less than half (34%) of CFOs believe their firm’s will consider improving employee retention as a top talent management priority for 2021, in comparison 29% of firms considered improving employee retention in 2020.

Outsourcing

CFOs and COOs are often responsible for determining which functions should remain in-house and which should be outsourced. Naturally as technology becomes more advanced and more processes are required to be automated, more managers have started to shift various core, routine functions to service providers.

EY found that tax and fund accounting across the board are predominantly outsourced, with 34% of managers with more than $15bn AUM, 46% of managers with between $2.5bn - $15bn AUM and 62% of managers with less than $2.5bn seeking support for these functions.

Naturally, larger managers are able to use automation as a tool to increase internal operational efficiency. EY’s report reflects this as the majority of respondents have identified that tax and regulatory reporting are mostly completely manual, while fund accounting is completed using a mix of manual and automated processes.